Dr. Alexey Root

For four years (1991, 1996, 2004, and 2005) I taught at Hummingbird Chess Camp, held during one week of the Hummingbird Music Camp (Jemez Springs, NM). The founder of the chess camp, Elliott Higgins, passed away today. Hummingbird is a magical place. I am grateful to Elliott for hiring me to teach at the camp. He also gave wonderful tours, told great stories, and had a passion for music and for chess. I would like to express my condolences to the Higgins family.

Dr. Alexey Root taught at the Greenhill School Chess Camp July 14-18 and July 21-25, 12:30-3:30 p.m. each day. The first week she had 12 students and the second week 10 students. Two other coaches had other groups: One had a less advanced group and the other a more advanced group. In Dr. Root's group, most students (ages 5-8; entering grades 1-4 this fall) started the week knowing the names of the chessmen and how some of them moved but not knowing en passant, promotion, or castling.

For the first meeting of Greenhill Chess for the fall of 2014, chess club sponsor Cathleen Garcia went over the rules and procedures. Alexey Root taught the Classify activity (from Thinking with Chess: Teaching Children Ages 5-14) to the beginner group.

Ten Denton High School chess club students welcomed 20 students (and their parents and chess sponsor) from Newton Rayzor Elementary. The high school students taught small groups (2-4 students) the two-rook checkmate, the Pawn Game (or Battleship Chess), and UIL Chess Puzzle solving. The elementary students had time to practice. Dr. Alexey Root dismissed the elementary school students with a game of chess Simon Says.

Denton High School students played bughouse. Three new members learned chess from the Chess Club Secretary. There was food, particularly lots of cookies. This was the last regular meeting of the 2013-2014 year. However, two more important events are coming up May 9 (visit of elementary school students) and May 24 (tournament at Denton Public Library).

Greenhill chess students had their last meeting of spring 2014. Chess Director Cathleen Garcia passed out awards. Parents brought in food and took photos. Dr. Alexey Root supervised bughouse games.The club is for first through fourth grade students. Fifth grade students attend the middle school chess club.

Denton High School chess students played Progressive Chess today (Scottish variation). White starts with one move, then Black plays two moves, then White plays three moves, and so forth. Dr. Root noted that a turn ends when check is given and that the checked king must use its first move to get out of check.

UIL stands for University Interscholastic League.Thanks to UIL and Texas Tech University Chess Program, Chess Puzzle is now an official event for UIL A+ Academics. Dr. Alexey Root is writing an article about Chess Puzzle for Chess Life magazine. Her book Science, Math, Checkmate: 32 Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving provides activities that UIL Chess Puzzle sponsors can share with students to help them succeed at the UIL Chess Puzzle event.

This was the last chess day for spring 2014 for St. Vincent's chess. There was pizza and all the students stayed together rather than separating into three groups by level. Dr. Root taught Progressive Chess (Scottish variation). Briefly,White starts with one move, then Black plays two moves, then White plays three moves, and so forth.

Greenhill chess students played Progressive Chess today (Scottish variation). Briefly,White starts with one move, then Black plays two moves, then White plays three moves, and so forth. Dr. Root noted that a turn ends when check is given and that the checked king must use its first move to get out of check. And that it cannot move into check during its turn. The variant teaches students to make every move count and to plan ahead.

On another free day at Denton High School chess club, Dr. Alexey Root finished her game against a group of students. Two other students tried a UIL chess problem solving test. Three students planned activities for tomorrow’s outing at Arts in Bloom in McKinney. And four other students played a chess variant (Knightmare Chess).